I used to live in an apartment close to downtown Fort Wayne. My roommate and I would frequently hold Bible studies with our friends in our small living room. One of our favorite things to do after the study was to engage in a rousing game of Bible Trivia. So in the spirit of random Biblical facts, I’d like to pose a question: Who was the first person mentioned in Scripture that was said to be filled with the Holy Spirit? It’s an interesting question that has an even more interesting answer. The man’s name is Bezalel.

Most of us have probably never heard a sermon preached about Bezalel; in fact most of us probably don’t even recognize his name. He wasn’t a great prophet or a mighty judge. He wasn’t a grand king or one of David’s Mighty Men. He wasn’t a High Priest or one of the Patriarch of our faith. Bezalel was an artist.

Israel had crossed the Red Sea and they were camped at the base of Mount Sinai. The glory of the Lord was resting on the mountain and Moses had just finished the climb in order to hear what the Lord has to say. At some point in that 40-day period, the Lord told Moses that He had a building project for Israel; they were to construct the Tabernacle. The Lord explained in great detail what the Tabernacle was supposed to be like; its dimensions, its colors, its furnishings, building materials and so on. This was not going to be a one-week project!

Then, in Exodus 31, God said:

“See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts-  to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze,  to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship.

Bezalel was the foreman in charge of making sure all the details of the Tabernacle & its furnishings were done just how God told them. Everything from the stitching on the curtain separating the Holy Place & the Holiest of Holies, the mirrors on the inside of the Bronze Basin, the buds & petals on the Candlestick, the sculpting of the Cherubim that covered the Ark of the Covenant and everything in between.

Obviously God wanted the Tabernacle to accommodate the functionality of the Old Testament Law, but why did He want all the intricacies in the design? The Tabernacle itself was a prophecy. All the details of the different elements that were constructed pointed to the Messiah; His life, His character, His work, His death & His Resurrection This shows us the highest calling & purpose that artists have: to create art that reveals the life, character, work, death & resurrection of Jesus.

God is an artist. He paints the most beautiful sunsets; He forms & shapes the highest mountains; He composes the melodies that His Creation sings. And for what purpose?  To show us the attributes of Himself!

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. – Psalm 19:1-4

We are made to experience to art. We are wired so that when we hear music, look at a painting, watch a play or gaze at a sculpture, the deepest parts of our souls are touched. Art can communicate ideas to our hearts that would have never made it through by way of our minds.  A picture really is worth a thousand words. It is God’s will & plan to use art to communicate to His people about Himself.

There was a time when the Church was leading the way in producing creative, God-inspired art. The artists weren’t copying ideas from the outside world; they were inventing fresh expressions of their faith; they were operating in the creative nature of their Creator. But it seems like times have changed. Generally speaking, we as the Church seem to be stagnant in our pursuit of sharing in the creative nature of our Creator. If anything, it seems that we’re copying the creative styles of those outside the Church.

If we’re supposed to be made in the image of God, who is so creative that He makes every snowflake different, then why is the Church so artistically stagnant?

This is a call to all artists; to all musicians, painters, sculptors, carpenters, graphic designers, movie makers, dancers, banner makers, play writers, authors, poets and the like. This is a call to all the Bezalel’s! God is calling you to the highest calling an artist can have: revealing the life, the character, the work, the death & the Resurrection of Jesus through your art. Whatever measure of talent & gifting you have, use it for this one purpose. Let’s flood our local churches with original, Spirit-filled songs, dances, movies, poems, hymns, furniture, plays and paintings. Let’s flood our churches with art that reveals Jesus.

Let’s go back to Mount Sinai. When God first told Moses to build the Tabernacle, He said: Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you. – Exodus 25:9.

God showed Moses a blueprint for the Tabernacle, but according to the book of Hebrews, the blueprint was not on earth.

When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. – Hebrews 9:11.

God had Moses build an earthly tabernacle that was only a shadow of the true Heavenly Tabernacle. Is it possible for us to experience glimpses of Heaven today just like Israel did with the Tabernacle? Could it be that God wants to send Heavenly art to earth through you and me today? Could the melodies of Heaven be brought to our churches through our own musicians? Could images of Heaven be brought to our sanctuaries through our own painters & carpenters?

The most creative, innovative and Christ-revealing art will be found in the Church again; and it will come through ordinary people like you and me. The good news is you don’t have to be a Rembrandt or Michelangelo to have God use you. It’s not your name or your sphere of influence that sets you apart for this task; it’s the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit that filled Bezalel is the same Spirit that God pours out on us. And it’s this Spirit-inspired art that will be a testimony to the world that we have an all-powerful, all-loving, all-knowing and all-creative God. This is the artist’s role and purpose in the local Church. Let’s make room for the Bezalel’s and allow them the freedom to bring a glimpse of Heaven to Earth.

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The woman written of in the gospels who anointed our Savior was just an ordinary woman. However, her expression of love is legendary.

When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.” Luke 7:37-38

This scene painted in Luke 7:37-38 (see also Matthew 26:1-16, Mark 14:1-12 & John 12:1-11) awakens a feeling in me, best described as “gently radical.”

During this time in history women kept their hair pinned up. Paul even goes so far to say in one Epistle that a woman’s glory is her hair. Yet, humbly she departed from the culturally accepted thing, took her hair down and used “her glory” to serve Him tenderly.

The radical offering of pouring out a year’s worth of wages onto the feet of the object of her affection is riveting. Recently, I heard a speaker discuss this passage. He stated that the average annual wage today in his area of the United Sates is about $50,000 — he asked the audience to imagine the idea of $50,000 being spent in just a few minutes blessing the Lord. Seems absolutely extreme doesn’t it? Yet, His forgiveness compelled her heart to pour out such an amazing gift! Resonating with me, that great forgiveness begets deep gratitude.

I find it irresistible that she preaches without out saying a word — preaching with tender kisses and extravagant fragrance! Over the years as I am brought back to these passages about the woman (or possibly — women) anointing Jesus I have always focused on how she ministered to me and how she ministered to the people who witnessed the event, and Jesus’ response to her and those around them. Until recently I never really considered how these moments had also ministered to the Lord.

“Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray Him, objected, Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages. He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.” John 12:1:3-7.

This passage finally “clicked” for me. While Christ is hanging on the cross taking in His last breaths — He is inhaling the scent of the expensive perfume that Mary anointed Him with. In those last breaths what He smells is the fragrance of her love, sacrifice and devotion.

As I take in the aroma of this picture of love, it struck me in a whole new way again… how true it is, that we love because He first loved us. This love of hers is only made possible because of His love, sacrifice, and devotion for her and all of His children. Including you and me. My heart longs to be the kind of woman who uses all that I have to serve Christ. I am grateful that in Christ this is a possible dream.

In the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade. Through us, He brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation—an aroma redolent with life…“ 2Corinthians2:14-15 (Message)

May the air around you fill with the fragrance of love and life everywhere you go.

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As I surveyed the room, my heart touched along with the rest of the people’s, I thought to myself, “Awww, faith like a child”. I then realized that as those words passed through my mind not only did they contain a sense of endearment, they also contained a hint of sadness. It was as if I also said to myself, “I wish I had faith like a child where I would not think twice about being the only one in a room full of people that stood up and danced, laughed & enjoyed my time with God.” In that moment I longed for the innocence & freedom that those girls were enjoying.

One of my favorite accounts of King David’s life is when he brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 6:14-16 says:

David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might,  while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets. As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart.

When God was forming me in my mother’s womb, He decided in His infinite wisdom to give me a total of zero measures of talent in the area of dancing. I’m absolutely horrible. One might assume that because I’m a musician I can keep a beat with my body…not even close. Maybe King David wasn’t as bad as me, but I don’t think dancing was one of his most refined talents either. Maybe part of his wife’s displeasure toward him & the situation she was observing had to do with how ridiculous David looked while he danced.

But what I love and admire about David is that he didn’t care how he looked when he danced. He wasn’t attempting to put on a show or impress the people he was ruling over. He didn’t seem to care if people thought he looked weird or said that it was out of place for a king to look so “undignified”.  David just allowed the joy he had in his heart and the love he had for God to collide with the expression of his body. He was much more concerned about God’s thoughts than other people’s. Maybe that’s why King David is forever remembered as a man after God’s own heart. (Acts 13:22).

At the end of the evening, after the praise team had finished playing, I was talking with the father of the girls who were dancing up by the stage. We briefly talked about how cute the girls were and what a precious sight it was. Then he said something very innocently that made a strong impact on my spirit. He said, “They would have danced all night if I would have let them.” He meant it in the best of ways as a father not wanting his kids to be a distraction or an annoyance to anyone; so that’s not what hit me. But I think God was communicating a spiritual message through his words.

At some point in my life I was either told or I learned through the culture in which I grew up that I had outgrown the freedom & innocence that those girls had in worship. When I got to a certain age or maturity level someone or something pulled back on the reins as if to say, “That was acceptable when you were younger, but not anymore.” I can’t put my finger on it, but at some point in my life I learned that I wasn’t allowed to dance all night.

The truth is we are all God’s children and we are all free to express ourselves in worship. We should never allow fear of any kind – being look at funny, being snickered at, being labeled over-emotional – to keep the joy of our salvation bottled up. The Bible says that it is for freedom that we’ve been set free! We never outgrow being His kids.

Can we worship without dancing or lifting our hands or shouting? Absolutely. But just like King David, God loves it when we worship Him unashamedly with all of our might and with everything we have. So let loose, dance, laugh & enjoy having the best Dad imaginable. Just be a child.

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Before coming to Mexico, I had been in the traditional Lutheran church almost exclusively. But I had enrolled myself in a school where the students had different denominational backgrounds. Needless to say I began seeing expressions of worship that I never saw in the Lutheran church; one of them being the lifting of hands while worshipping.

I vividly remember when I began to break out of my shell and lift my hands when I worshipped. As my hands were in the air, I would slyly scan the room, even look behind me, to see if anyone else was lifting their hands so I wouldn’t be the only one doing it. Well, it turns out that I wasn’t so sly, because after a little while I started to get lovingly mocked for my insecurity. Because it was all in good spirit, the teasing of my friends actually helped me realize that I had no reason to be insecure.

Lately I’ve been studying the different expressions of worship that our found in the book of Psalms. Here are just a couple of the things that I have found. In 90 different verses, the Psalmist talks about singing as an expression of worship; 19 verses talk about making music; 8 different verses talk about standing and 1 verse talks about kneeling. These 4 expressions are rich in meaning and grounded in Scripture. That’s why you can walk into most worship services and find people singing, hear different kinds of music and see people standing and kneeling at different times during the service.

But these aren’t the only 4 expressions of worship that are talked about in the book of Psalms, there are many others. One of them is lifting our hands. This expression is talked about 7 times throughout the Psalms. Here are just a few of the references:

•    I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. – Psalm 63:4
•    Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD. – Psalm 134:2
•    May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice. – Psalm 141:2
•    I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. – Psalm 143:6

It’s interesting that something so grounded in Scripture can be such a tender subject when talked about in regards to our worship services. I’ve never been in a conversation when the validity of singing, standing or kneeling in worship was brought into question. But when the topic of lifting our hands is brought up, I’ve found that some people tend to get uncomfortable, upset & even angry.

Why is this? I think many of us tend to automatically link the expression of lifting our hands with contemporary worship styles. But this expression was not created by a denomination or patented by the Charismatic or Pentecostal movement. It was practiced and affirmed as a valid expression of worship as early as the book of Psalms. Lifting our hands is a beautiful act of worship that is rich in meaning. It can be used in any worship setting because, just like singing & kneeling, it is grounded in Scripture.

The expressions that are found in the Psalms are not confined to any style. Whether we worship in a traditional setting or a contemporary one, we should feel free to join with the Psalmists in their expressions of worship. I think God is honored & blessed when, along with our sermons & songs, our worship expressions come straight from His Word.

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